Power-transmission gearing.



' PATENTED JULY 17, 1906.

H. 0. FLETCHER. v

POWER TRANSMISSION GEARING.

APPLICATION FILED MAB..29, 1906.

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UNITED STATES PATENT CFEICE- HENRY o. FLETCHER, oE HYDE PARK.' MASSACHUSETTS. 'l

POWER-TRANSMISSION GEARING.

Specifcatiqnv of Letters Patent.

Pater'fedJuly 17, 1906.

Application filed March 29. 1906. Serial No. 308,640.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that Il, HENRY O. FLETCHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hyde Park, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Power-Transmission Gearing, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like figures on the drawings representing like parts.

In high-speed machinery where a counter- Shaft is to be coupled by gearing to a rapidlymoving drive-shaft it is frequently deemed necessary to slow down the drive-shaft in order to couple the gears Without danger of stripping their teeth; and the object of my invention is to make it possible to couple the gears directly at normal high speed.

Myinvention is applicable to various kinds of machinery, and especially to the drivinggear of automobiles and the like.

I provide the gear on the counter-Shaft with means for automatically giving it a capacity for preliminary rotary movement independently of said shaft when it engages with the gear of the main shaft and before it 1s caused positively to rotate the countershaft, my invention also preferably including means for automatically restoring the parts to their initial position when it is desired to uncouple the two shafts.

My invention also includes means, combined with the foregoing, for permitting the two gearsto be directly ucpupled without accelerating the speed of either.

In the.preferred embodiment of my invention I provide the counter-shaft with a gear mounted loosely on a spiral key, rib, or threaded portion, so that when said gear is moved laterally to engage the driving-gear it will instantly be given a preliminary forward movement, which maybe rapidly accelerated by coming into driven engagement with the driving-gear, and vwhen t e two gears have come into fully-engaged position the gear on the counter-shaft 1s caused to interlock rigidly for the time being with the countershaft, so as to drive the latter thereafter positively forward To permit the lateral disengagement of the driving-gear and the driven gear in a straight lateral line without being influenced by the said spiral inclined keyv or rib, I mount the latter on a clutch-sleeve, which is bodily shifted in a rectilinear direction on the counter-shaft when it is desired to couple or to uncouple the parts.

In the drawings, in which I haveillustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, Figure 1 is a View in side'elevation, parts being broken away and sectioned,

showing one embodiment of my invention.

applied, are journaled a main shaft 2 and a counter-shaft 3, the main shaft having a high-speed gear 4 and a low-speed gear 5 for correspondingly driving the counter-shaft as desired. On the counter-shaft are two sleeves 6 7, the former being shown in side elevation and the latter in vertical longitudinal section for olearness of illustration, said sleeves being capable of moving longitudinally of said shaft, but rotating therewith, said shaft being herein shown as square or slab-sided at 8 for this purpose, or it may be provided with a longitudinal key or keyway or any other means for permitting the longitudinal movement of the drivingsleeves. On the sleeve 6 is a high-speed gear 9, and on the sleeve 7 a low-s eed gear 10, and as the construction of bot sleeves and their connected parts is otherwise the same it will suffice to describe one of said sleeves only.

The sleeve, although made for convenience of a lurality of arts, is (practically one piece, an will be so escribe At its central ortion it is provided with one or more spirall) or inclined ribs, keys, or threads 11, a plurality thereof being herein shown for giving great strength. These threads or keys are inclined more or less, according to the normal speed of the machine, and the gears 9 'and 10 are correspondingly threaded to have free interlocking movement thereon. The lateral width of the threaded portion 11 of the sleeve is considerably more than the lateral width of the enga ed gear, so as to permit said gear to have t e necessary extent of travel both laterally and radially as it moves with relation to said threaded portion. Normally the gear 9 or 10 is held to the left by a` spring 12, secured at one end to the gear,as at 13, and at its opposite end to the right-hand end of the sleeve 6 at 14, said sleeve having a hub or enlargement 15, and said ear having a lug 16 to cooperate with a s oulder 17, formed in the hub 15 for giving thefshaft its initial positive starting movement, sald IOO IIO

hub being cut away at 18, and said shoulder having a buffer, of leather, rubber, spring metal, or other usual substance, as indicated at 19, to take the shock of starting. The shoulder 17 receives the lug 16 before the ear 9 (or 10) -can come in contact with the ub 15, so that thereby all possibility of binding is prevented and the lateral movement of the gear takes place readily and freely in either direction. At its opposite end the sleeve has a peripheral groove 20 for receiving a shifting-arm 21 or 22, as the case may be,'projecting rigidly from a rock-shaft 23, operated by a shipper-handle 24, slidingly mounted in the frame 1 at 25, said arms 21 22 being set at such an angle to each other that when the shaft 23 is rotated in one direction the arm 21 will engage the sleeve 6, and when rotated in the op osite direction the arm 22 will engage the s eeve 7 and will disengage the arm 21 from the sleeve 6, or when rotated to another position both arms will be disengaged. Any other convenient kind of clutch-operating mechanism may be employed. The counter-shaft 3 has fixed collars 26 for limiting the movement of the sleeves to the left, and heavy springs 27 at the opposite ends of said sleeves for maintaining the latter under a constant tendency to move to the left toward said collars into inoperative position. This spring arrangement permits me to unship or disconnect the gears in stantly simply by rocking the shipper-shaft 23 into disengaged position, and for this purpose I prefer to employ it, although it wi l be understood that this Jfeature, as well as many of the other features of my invention, may be omitted and variouslyA modified, while stil-l carryin out the main features of the invention an securing my principal object, which is to enable the two toothed gears to be safely engaged for driving the counter-shaft at high speed.

The operation of my invention will be readilfy understood from the foregoing description. I the operator wishes to drive the countershaft at its highest speed, he rocks the shipper-lever 24 so as to engage the arm 21 with the groove 20 of the adjacent sleeve 6, and thereupon slides said sleeve to the ri ht until the teeth of gear 9 engage with t e teeth of the high-speed driving-gear 4 of the main shaft 2, at the same time compressing spring 27. Thereu on the very instant that the teeth of sai two ears 4 9 begin to engage the loose ear 9 is rglriven lightl forward until its teet are in full mesh wit the teeth of the gear 4. This forward movement is both a ro'rfry movement and a lateral shifting mow ement, so that the teeth of gear 9 are shifted laterally until they fully engage the teeth of gear 4 across the entire width of the respective gears, this movement being accomplished by the inclined keys or threads 11, on which the gear 9 is loosely mounted.

This same provision causes the gear 9 to move forward instantly Without offering substantial resistance to the gear 4 when rst engaged. As soon as the teeth of the two gears 4 9 have come into fully-engaged position and the gear 9 has attained its initial speed it strikes against the shoulder 17, the

lug 16 transmitting the initial shock through the buffer 19 to the shaft or sleeve, and immediately the counter-shaft is caused to rotate in proper driven relation to the main shaft.

The operation above described compresses the spring 12, the spring 27 having been'compressed by the shiftin of shaft 23. When the operator wishes to isengage the countershaft from the main shaft, he simply rocks the shifting-lever 24 so as to throw the arm 21 out of engagement with the clutch-groove 20, and thereupon the compressed spring 27 instantly shifts the sleeve and ear 9 to the left, so as to disengage the teet of the gear 9 from the tee-th of ear 4, and as soon as said gear 9 is thus free the spring 12 rotates it backward on the inclined keys or threads 11 to its original shifted position at the left ready for a repetition of the above-described operation.

To drive the counter-shaft at low speed, the operator rocks the shifting-rod so as to engage the arm 22 with sleeve 7 and then repeats the movements above described, thereby engaging the teeth of gear 10 with the teeth of gear 5, and thereby the gear 10 is instantly and lightly shifted forward to the right, and when the respective teeth of the two gears are fully and positively engaged the gear 10 is brought automatically into locked position at the right with its sleeve 7 and immediately rotates the counter-shaft positively forward at the required speed.

If the inclined threads or keys 11 were formed directly on the counterlshaft insteadI of on the laterally-movable sleeve or e uivalent portion, I wouldvobtain substantial y the same result of coupling the two gears together, as above described; but upon undertakin to disen age said gears without stopping t e main s aft the lateral movement of the driven gear with relation to said inclined threads would compel the counter-shaft to accelerate momentarily its forward speed, and I overcome this objection by providing the mechanism on a sleeve which is shiftable longitudinally of the counter-shaft. By this means the driven gear 9, for example, ma be shifted longitudinally of the counter-s aft without alfectin the speed of the latter in any way. The s iftin movement is accomplished by the sleeve, w 'ch carries the driven ear, and the movement of the latter with reation to the inclined threads or automatic shifting means does not take place until the driven gear is entirely disengaged from the driving-gear. Y

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- shaft to en age a fixed ear on the counter-- venience of distinguishing the two shafts and not necessarily for indicatin the relative speeds or the like and that t e clutch-gear may be mounted, if desired, on the main shaft, and am aware, a so, that many other chan es in form and arrangement of parts may e resorted to without departing from the'spirit and scope of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of a main shaft and a counter-shaft, a fixed gear on one shaft, and

` a clutch-gear on the other shaft to engage and disengage the fixed gear, of means-coperating with said fixed gear for automatically shifting said clutch-gear forwardly and laterally with relationl to its shaft when said clutch-gear first engages said fixed gear.

2. The combination ofa main shaft and a counter-shaft, a fixed gear on one shaft, and a clutch-gear on the other shaft to engage and disengage the fixed gear, of means coperating with said fixed gear for automatically shifting said clutch-gear forwardly and laterally with relation to its shaft when said clutchgear first engages said fixed gear, and means or interlocking said clutch-gear in driving engagement-With its shaft'when said clutchgear becomes shifted laterally into full engagement with said fixed gear.

3. The combination of a main shaft and a counter-shaft, a fixed gear on. one shaft, and a clutch-gear on the other shaft to engage and disengage theI fixed gear, of means co- ;oBerating with said fixed gear for automaticy shifting said clutch-gear forwardly and laterally with relation to its shaft when said clutch-gear first engages said fixed gear, means for interlocking said clutch-gear in driving engagement with its shaft when said clutch-gear becomes shifted .laterally into full engagement with said fixed ear, and means or moving said clutch-gear ongitudinally of its shaft out of engagement with said fixed gear.

4. The combination of a main shaft and a counter-shaft, a fixed gear on one shaft, and a clutch-gearon the other shaft to engage and disengage the fixed gear, of means cooperating with said fixed gear for automatically shifting said clutch-gear forwardly and laterally with relation .to its shaft when said clutch-gear first engages said xed gear, means for interlocking said clutch-gear in driving enga ement with its shaft when said clutch-gear ecomes shifted laterally into full engagement with said fixed gear, means for moving said clutch-gear longitudinally of its shaft out of engagementl with said fixed gear, and means for thereafter rotating said clutch-gear backward on its shaft to its initial position.

5. The combination of a main shaft and a counter-shaft, a fixed. gear on one shaft, and a clutch-gear on the other shaft to engage and disengage the fixed gear, of means cooperating with said fixed gear for automatically Shifting said clutch-gear forwardly and laterally with relation to its shaft when said clutch-gear first engages' said fixed gear, means for interlocking said clutch-gear in driving engagement with its shaft when said clutch-gear becomes shifted laterally` into full engagement with said fixed gear, and automatic means for moving said clutch-gear longitudinally of its shaft out of engagement with said fixed gear.

6. The combination of a main shaft and a counter-shaft, a fixed gear on one shaft, and a clutch-gear on the other shaft to engage and disengage the fixed gear, of means cooperating with said fixed gear for automatica ly shifting said clutch-gear forwardly and laterally with relation to its shaft-when said clutch-gear first engages said fixed gear, means for interlocking said clutch-gear in driving enga ement with its shaft when said clutch-gear ecomes shifted laterally into full engagement with said fixed gear, means for moving said clutch-gear longitudinally of its shaft out of engagement with said fixed gear, and automatic means for thereafter rotating said clutch-gear backward on its shaft to its initial position.

7. The combination with a drive-shaft and a driven shaft, of a gear loosely mounted on one of said shafts and a shaft to be engaged by sai loose gear, an inclined key or thread coperating with said loose gear to shift the sam-e laterally 1n lts rotation with relation to the shaft, and handoperated means for bringing said two gears into engagement.

8. In an apparatus of the kind described, a shaft, a non-rotatable sleeve longitudinally movable thereon, said sleeve having an externally threaded portion, a gear loosely mounted on said threaded portion, and means at the opposite ends of said threaded portion for limiting the movement of said gear.

9. In an apparatus of the kind described, a shaft, a non-rotatable sleeve longitudinally movable thereon, said sleeve having an externally-threaded portion, a gear loosely mounted' on said threaded portion, means at the opposite ends of said threaded portion for limiting the movement of said gear, and yielding means for normally maintaining said gear at one end of said threaded portion.

10. In an apparatus of the kind described, a shaft, a non-rotatable sleeve longitudinally IOO (gear on the other IIO movable thereon, said sleeve having an exnounted on said threaded portion7 means at name to this specification in the presence of the opposite ends of said threaded portion tWo subscribing Witnesses.

for limiting the movement of said gear handoperated means for shifting said sleevein one i HENRY 0' FLETCHER direction, and automatic means for shifting Witnesses: said sleeve in the opposite direction. GEO. H. MAXWELL,

In testimonT whereof I have signed my WM. J. PIKE. 

